


I Saved Myself By Saving You

by ChibiYoda



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Science Boyfriends, Science Bros, This Is My Ship and It Has Wrecked Me, because that's all I can do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-20
Updated: 2014-10-20
Packaged: 2018-02-21 22:14:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2484236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiYoda/pseuds/ChibiYoda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oddly enough, revelations can still be made in the middle of the night, when you're running on empty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Saved Myself By Saving You

In the first weeks after the Battle of New York, it was easy for Bruce to stay. Too much work to do, and no time to think. He dove in, and helped wherever he could. He spent the bulk of his time assisting in the makeshift clinics that had popped up to aid those who had undertook the massive cleanup effort. From dawn till dusk, he easily kept busy. Often Tony would have to fetch him to come for dinner and rest. Bruce was contributing, and it felt good.

When most of the external cleanup was completed, Tony rejoiced that now he could finally "have you to myself". Tornado Tony descended upon Bruce, not giving him a chance to entertain the thought of leaving. He wanted opinions on the various projects he was working on, and wanted Bruce to run wild with his own ideas that he'd been mentioning to Tony in passing. Tony was determined not to let this great mind waste away in some third world hovel. He convinced Bruce that he could do the most good for humanity by staying right here, in New York City...with Tony, of course.

It really wasn't difficult for Bruce to justify staying. Tony's enthusiasm was contagious, his personality charming. And if he didn't know better, Bruce had begun to feel that he'd actually made a friend. Maybe that wasn't quite accurate. He hoped he wasn't wrong, but he sort of felt like Steve, Clint and even Natasha were kind of his friends now. He hasn't had enough interaction with Thor yet to include him on the list, but the others were fond of him, so Bruce didn't see why he wouldn't end up feeling the same way.

Tony, however, didn't seem to want to fit nicely into any one category. Friend - sure. Employer - well, more like a benefactor. Collaborator - definitely. And even though Bruce hadn't had any of these types of relationships in years, there was another service that the two provided to each other that was possibly the most welcome of all. Confidante. Bruce and Tony could understand one another in a way that others could not. Though their backgrounds were vastly different, the similarities they do share had given them a special bond. Each knows the gut-wrenching pain of having unintentionally hurt others as a result of their own combinations of ego, mental blindness and selfcenteredness. Their lives had taken disastrous roads, leaving them with overwhelming desires to make amends. It was a relief to have another person who got it, who knew, without having to use the words that were uncomfortable to form into sentences. Most of the time, they couldn't find the right combinations of words to adequately reflect the emotions anyhow. They were two sides of the same coin, he and Tony. Maybe they could help each other.

Bruce threw himself into his work. His idea of a break was when he'd temporarily left his own projects to assist Tony with everything he had going on. It was an ideal situation for both. They worked as well together as they did apart, and it was a comfort to each to have the other nearby. As time went on, they grew happier than they'd been in far too long. But since this kind of contentment was quite foreign to them. Neither realized it had happened until it became shockingly obvious.

 

Tony wandered into Bruce's lab sometime during the night. Bruce had been running himself ragged with ideas for a solar powered water purification system that could be affordable enough to install in thousands of the world's poorest communities. Now Tony understood what Pepper had been worried about, when she watched him spend every waking hour, and many in which he should have been sleeping, developing his suits.

"You don't have to save the world all by yourself, you know. You already saved me, isn't that enough?" Tony smiled genuinely at Bruce. He did that a lot, now that Bruce was around. He would drop the act. He didn't play 'Tony Stark'. He was just Tony.

A bleary-eyed Bruce looked up, gifting Tony with a genuine smile of his own. "That one was for me. I still have a long way to go to pay back the world." If he'd had more of his wits about him, he might have been mortified by his own candor. He went back to staring at the equations on his screen.

The sentiment was not lost on Tony, and the pieces began to fall into place. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and swayed back and forth. "You have plenty of time to accomplish all of the remarkable wonders that you're gonna give to humanity." He stared blankly at a random object on Bruce's desk. "But you've already done some life-changing work right here. Sure it's on a smaller scale, and maybe to the benefit of one person instead of millions, but I still think it's pretty important." Tony lifted his bright, almost perpetually twinkling eyes, searching for Bruce's soulful ones.

Bruce could feel his vigilantly maintained defenses begin to waver. He stated, quite sincerely, "If I had to choose between being important to the world, and being important to you...I'd choose you, every time." He was hesitant to look Tony's way.

"And I'm selfish enough to want you to." Tony admitted. To himself, as much as to Bruce. He focused his gaze on his friend.

Bruce turned his head toward Tony. A modest smile dissolved the tension from his face.

 

It was very, very late, or very, very early, depending on your point of view. Maybe there had been enough honesty to each other and themselves for one night.

"Come on," Tony motioned to Bruce, "let's get out of here."

Bruce placed his glasses in his shirt pocket. Tony threw an arm around his shoulder as he's done a hundred times before, and they shuffled toward the elevator. This time though, Bruce returned the favor, and with a feather-light touch, he tentatively snaked his arm around Tony's back. He strained to watch Tony out of the corner of his eye, and saw the edge of his mouth rise.

Bruce relaxed his arm against him.

It was the first and only time Tony had ever wished for longer hallways.

**Author's Note:**

> Written in October 2013.


End file.
